Quotes from Maya Angelou

You can only become great at that thing you're willing to sacrifice for.

I'm just like you - I want to be a good human being. I'm doing my best, and I'm working at it. And I'm trying to be a Christian. I'm always amazed when people walk up to me and say, 'I'm a Christian.' I always think, 'Already? You've already got it?' I'm working at it. And at my age, I'll still be working at it at 96.

I'm working at trying to be a Christian, and that's serious business. It's like trying to be a good Jew, a good Muslim, a good Buddhist, a good Shintoist, a good Zoroastrian, a good friend, a good lover, a good mother, a good buddy - it's serious business.

There's a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth.

Difficult is a far cry from impossible. The distance between these two lies hope. Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Invite one to stay.

Each time a dancer moves devoutly or a composer faithfully searches the silence for the veiled melodies, eternity is engaged.

I don't know how much longer I'll be around. I'll probably be writing when the Lord says, 'Maya, Maya Angelou, it's time.'

I long for the time when all human history is taught as one history, because it really is.

I suggest that the great art belongs to all people, all the time--that indeed it is made for the people, by the people, to the people.

If we live long enough, we may even get over war. I imagine a time when somebody will mention the word war and everyone in the room will start to laugh. And what do you mean war?

I think we ought to give ourselves more time. We should be more patient with ourselves and with each other.

We need Joy as we need air. We need Love as we need water. We need each other as we need the earth we share.

Open your eyes to the beauty around you, open your mind to the wonders of life, open your heart to those who love you, and always be true to yourself.

At the end of the day people won't remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.

I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels.

It's amazing. I can do anything. And do it well. Any good thing, I can do it. That's why I am who I am, yes, because God loves me and I'm amazed at it. I'm grateful for it.

You have to have courage to love somebody. Because you risk everything. Everything.

I dreamt we walked together along the shore. We made satisfying small talk and laughed. This morning I found sand in my shoe and a seashell in my pocket. Was I only dreaming?

First best is falling in love. Second best is being in love. Least best is falling out of love. But any of it is better than never having been in love.

Love liberates. It doesn't just hold, that's ego. Love liberates.

The honorary duty of a human being is to love.

Growing up, my grandmother did not want worldly music in the house. Then when I went out to California, I started listening to Spanish music, mostly Mexican music. But were I in Egypt, I would listen to the music of the people, or if I was in Italy, I'd listen to Italian music.

How wonderful it is to be an American. We have known the best of times and the worst of times.

If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And if we have the effrontery to talk to anybody with less than courtesy, we tell ourselves and the world we are not very intelligent.